Within the Feygloam, a faction of fey known as the Chrysanthemum Court make their home in a luscious grove bisected by a coursing river littered with the petals of the chrysanthemum flowers that hug the riverbank. The ruler of this court is known as Kawakingu, Lord of the Petal River. When Kawakingu was a young kappa, he attacked a traveller along the river, hoping to wrestle them into the water to drown them so that he could take their valuables for himself. The traveller, though, was a marid in disguise, who quickly overpowered Kawakingu and came within moments of striking the young kappa dead. Before the marid could do so, however, a wandering arch-hag intervened, banishing the marid and saving Kawakingu’s life. As compensation for her deed, the arch-hag demanded of Kawakingu “payment in the form of a lifetime of riches, spurned at the risk of damnation of your spirit and lifetimes of misfortune for your children and their children, and their children thereafter.” 

Kawakingu never saw the arch-hag again, but was convinced of her power and believed in her threat. When he inherited rulership of the Chrysanthemum Court from his father, he set about gathering the “lifetime of riches” of which the arch-hag spoke. To do so, he focused his efforts on the Material Plane, for it would be much easier to trick the mortal races out of their money than it would be other fey. Over time, the Chrysanthemum Court developed into what might be considered the Feygloam’s first interplanar organised crime syndicate, their hooks inserted into all manner of mortal doings on the Material Plane, with Kawakingu pulling the strings from the Feygloam. The influence of the Chrysanthemum Court extends to drug operations, targeted heists, blackmail, racketeering, and all other manner of professional crime, with the primary purpose of accruing as much wealth as possible. Most of the Chrysanthemum Court’s members care little for riches in the form of treasure gathered through the court’s operations, the majority of which is funnelled to Kawakingu’s vault for the purposes of his debt repayment. Instead, they are eager to serve Kawakingu because the syndicate’s infrastructure and operations better allow the fey to do what they do best — meddle in the affairs of mortals. The Chrysanthemum Court now boasts hundreds of members, each of them playing their own role in Kawakingu’s lifelong reparation effort. In recent years, however, as Kawakingu has grown old, the kappa has become increasingly paranoid that the arch-hag will return at any moment to collect the debt she is owed. 

Allies and associates

The Kikutengu. The kikutengu form a bulk of the Chrysanthemum’s Court’s ranks. These slippery fey carry out all manner of tasks on behalf of Kawakingu and the syndicate, including message running, pick-pocketing, general thievery, and the more elaborate heist operations. The most capable and senior kikutengu of the Court is named Higuchi, who has personally stolen tens-of-thousands of gold pieces worth of riches from the likes of rival crime bosses, genie palaces, and royal treasuries. 

The Kikuoni. The kikuoni are the bodyguards and the enforcers of the Chrysanthemum Court. Ever wary of the arch-hag’s return, Kawakingu keeps two of them by his side at all times in a feeble attempt to dissuade a potential visit from his old acquaintance. The kikuoni are also sent to do their grisly, violent work in cases such as when a business refuses to pay for protection, a debtor has been delinquent with their debt, or when a rival operation needs to be dismantled. 

Liavi the Kikuharionago. Liavi the kikuharionago is the Chrysanthemum Court’s most feared operative. She functions primarily as an assassin tasked with eliminating the most high-profile and hard-to-access targets, using her alluring form to mingle within the aristocratic social circles of the mortal races to get closer to her victims. The Court would typically prefer to use less violent means such as blackmail or bribery to achieve their aims, but assassination becomes necessary when a target rejects all other means of engagement or when their continued existence threatens the prosperity of the Court. 

Makka the Shunobon. To many, Makka the shunobon serves as the face of the Chrysanthemum Court. Especially in his later years, Kawakingu himself rarely ventures far from home and instead prefers to issue orders from the safety of his riverside palace in the Feygloam. Makka has taken on the work of day-to-day management of the Court’s activities in addition to the responsibilities of his previous role, which involved making first contact with potential marks on the Material Plane and convincing them to work with the Court. The combination of his relentless charm in addition to his terrifying presence makes Makka an incredibly effective intimidator and negotiator. Nobody says no to Makka. 

Ogura the Yureiko. They Chrysanthemum Court has made countless enemies, some of which include the spirits of those they have murdered, both in the Feygloam and on the Material Plane. Sometimes, these spirits relentlessly seek out and haunt the Court’s members. Ogura is a yureiko who patrols the Court’s territory within the Feygloam and captures any spirits causing a disturbance. Ogura can only drink them so quickly, however, and lately, spirits have been arriving faster than he can consume them. 

The Tanuki. Several tanuki serve the Chrysanthemum Court by using their shapeshifting abilities to hide amongst fey or mortal populations so that they can gather information and report back to Makka or Kawakingu about who may be plotting against the Court or leaking any sensitive information to informants. Some tanuki have been acting undercover for years under a single identity in rival fey courts that Kawakingu suspects of treachery. A jolly tanuki named Soma serves as Kawakingu’s personal jester and attempts to lift the wary lord out of his episodes of paranoid panic, which have begun to occur more frequently. 

Quests

Kawakingu in combat

The characters will likely have to leave a trail of other dead Court members in their wake before they could ever hope to reach the Lord of the Petal River himself, who holes himself up in his riverside palace. In battle, Kawakingu uses his Disorienting Jingle as often as he can, repositioning himself if necessary to affect the most enemy combatants possible. Once he has grappled an enemy with his Unarmed Strike, Kawakingu will use a legendary action on his Submission Hold ability  and will preferably wait until the end of the grappled target’s turn before he uses his Suplex Throw ability so that the target takes damage from the Submission Hold. Kawakingu would prefer to fight the characters in proximity to a river or other body of water so that he can use his swim speed to his advantage and pull grappled targets into the water in an attempt to drown them.